Biofilm of Salmonella
The Navarre researchers are analysing the role a new family of Salmonella typhimurium proteins play in the biosynthesis of cellulose and in the development of the salmonella bacteria's biofilm. Biofilms,The presence of biofilms is common in nature. E.g. the mucous material on the inside of a vase after we have had flowers there some time, the slimy substance covering stones on riverbeds ... these are biofilms. The capacity for biofilm formation does not appear to be restricted to any one specific group of micro-organisms and nowadays it is believed that if the environmental conditions are right, all micro-organisms are able to form biofilms. Although the composition of biofilm is dependent on the system under study, in general the main component of biofilm is water (as much as 97% of the total content). Apart from water and the bacterian cells, the biofilm matrix is a complex form, consisting principally of exopolysacharrides. Bacterian and infectious biofilms,Currently, with chronic infections such as those related to medical implants or other chronic conditions such as otitis media, pneumonia or chronic urinary infections, direct analysis of the infected implants and tissues clearly show that the bacteria responsible for the infection grows adhering to the tissue or implant, producing biofilms. The bacteria are protected, inside the biofilm, from the action of antibodies from attack by phagocytic cells and from antimicrobian treatment. Thus, they do not respond suitably to antibiotic treatment and produce recurrent episodes with the result that, in most cases, the only solution is the substitution of an implant. This is because the bacterias in the biofilm can be up to 1000 times more resistant to antibiotics than these same bacteria grown in a liquid medium. In the last five years, many research groups have directed their efforts to identifying the genes responsible for the formation of the biofilms and those genes required to maintain the structure of the biofilm. In order to identify these genes, there has been a recent development in genomics and proteomics that has resulted in many of these groups are using microarrays or proteomic techniques to identify the genes that change in biofilm conditions or planktonic conditions, even though we are dealing with the same bacteria. It is precisely on the Salmonella and Staphylococcus bacteria that Professor Lasa Uzkuduns research group has been carrying out studies. They have discovered a new family of proteins related to the formation of biofilms and which have been unidentified to date. This group of proteins may well explain the mechanism of the biofilm when colonising new surfaces, the method of adhering to different media, given that some of the discovered proteins have a precursor function in the formation of the biofilm.
Countries
Germany, Spain